Music Spotlight: "Tumblebee" by Laura Veirs

I first heard Laura Veirs on NPR's All Songs Considered program.  Her folksy, easy-going music was a balm for a chaotic day.  When she had a child, she decided that she wanted to create an album of music that  children would enjoy, but not  an album exclusively for children.  Consequently, "Tumblebee" is an album that is easy to listen to, and downright enjoyable for all ages.

Part of its appeal to the older set is a nostalgic redux of several traditional folk songs that are familiar with adults of all ages.  Even the original pieces by Veirs and others sound like songs you should know, because they blend so effortlessly with the traditional pieces.

The album alternates between faster songs and slower ballads.  Though I would imagine that kids would prefer the faster, funnier songs such as "Jump Down Spin Around" (my son definitely does), the slower songs are engaging as well.  One such song is "Why Oh Why," which illustrates a vignette of a small child asking the age-old question and parent responding with their answer: "Why can't a mouse eat a streetcar? /Why oh why oh why? / Because a mouse's stomach could never hold a streetcar / goodbye goodbye goodbye."

The album's sound feels organic, and I think that's the folk style shining through.  It feels like a good group of friends just got together and made fantastic music.  And fantastic it is!  The sound is crisp and clear, the lyrics are easy to understand, and Veirs does not rely on affectations to make her voice unique. The Americana Folk sound includes violin and other strings, a bit of mouth harp, and clangy piano.  It stays firmly in folk-music land without making the leap to bluegrass.

This is an album to be enjoyed by children, and the liner notes reflect a little bit of whimsy.  The lyrics and notes for each song look hand-scrawled, and is interspersed with line drawings of animals playing instruments.  The notes include explanations for the origins of each of the songs.  For example, one of the ballads "All the Pretty Horses" was sung by a slave who was trying to comfort her baby while caring for her master's child.  The story is heart-wrenching, but the song isn't sad, and in folk tradition, it seems right to know the story behind the song.

My experience with this album has been a positive one, and I have enjoyed playing it for my son.  He loves "Jump Down Spin Around," a call and response song that hearkens to the Old South with references to cooking "a mess of greens" and picking "a bale of cotton."  Another silly favorite is "King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-Oh" which is a traditional song that many will be familiar with in one form or another.

Overall, I have nothing negative to say about this album and I have either gifted it or recommended it to a large number of my own friends with children.  The universality of its tunes make it especially unique.

Tumblebee
By Laura Veirs
Copyright 2011
Raven Marching Band Records